Request Community Support

Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) is proud to financially support local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to energy and water conservation, environmental stewardship, support for underserved or underrepresented individuals and families, professional development for TPU employees, and other efforts aligned with core utility purposes.

What is a utility purpose?

A utility purpose is an activity or program that has a sufficient connection with the utility services TPU provides. Examples of a utility purpose include:

• Helping TPU build relationships and communicate with traditionally hard-to-reach or underserved audiences by:
  • Reaching out to customers eligible for specific savings programs or discount rates.
  • Seeking opportunities to educate customers about how conserving power and water can lower utility bills.
  • Providing translated messages about conservation, safety, bill assistance, and other issues to customers for whom English is not their primary language.
• Investing in nonprofit capital projects that promote power or water conservation.
• Promoting utility-related professional development for our employees or activities that support recruitment for utility-specific jobs. 
• Promoting science, technology, engineering, and math education outreach or training relevant to utility-specific jobs.
• Helping TPU practice environmental protection, stewardship, or conservation.

Due to restriction on the use of utility funds and the desire to best advance TPU’s goals, we will not accept funding requests for the following:

• Scholarships for individuals to attend camps, schools, pageants, tours, trips, or similar activities.
• Sports teams or sporting-related events. 
• Political organizations or candidates for political office. 
• Organizations that discriminate against any group. 
• Programs or projects aimed at promoting a specific religion.
• Enclosures to be mailed with utility bills.
• Programs outside of our service or project areas (Bonney Lake, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Frederickson, Graham, Lakewood, Orting, Puyallup, Roy, Ruston, Spanaway, Steilacoom, Sumner, Tacoma, and University Place, Parts of Unincorporated Pierce County, and the communities surrounding the Cowlitz River Project, Cushman Hydro Project, Green River Headworks, Nisqually River Project, and Wynoochee River Project).
• For-profit organizations. 
• More than one request per organization per year; however, a request can include multiple events or programs. 

Our Application & Review Process

We use an application and review process to identify events and organizations that best meet our program funding criteria. We base our decisions on several factors, including available budget, resources, and benefits to the community. All applicants will be notified of funding decisions no later than Jan. 15, 2027. 

Preference will be given to organizations or programs aligned with our goals around diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist systems transformation. For more information, refer to the City of Tacoma’s Equity and Empowerment Framework and Resolution 40622 on Anti-Racist System Transformation. 

Applying does not guarantee funding, and TPU reserves the right to restrict funding to those programs and events that best support TPU’s goals. Funding is not automatically renewed or guaranteed from year to year.

If your application is approved, we require a contract between your organization and TPU, prior to your event date.

 Please email any sponsorship-related questions to Monika Sundbaum.